QUERY Subjective and objective synthesis (SD6660)

[SDMAIL Jean-Jacques Laublé]

Posted by  Jean-Jacques Laublé <jean-jacques.lauble at wanadoo.fr>

Hi everybody

Even after having studied quite a long time SD, by books, articles, 
distant courses, there is something that I do not understand at all. 

It is the relation between the subjective and the objective part of 
a model. 

The subjective part is everything relative to the 'owner' or 'client', 
the owner or client being a distinct person or a group of persons: 
purposes of the model, constraints imposed to the modelling process, 
resources available, delay of realisation, cost etc.. 

The objective part is everything relative to the reality, independent 
or not from the subjective part. 

One first job is to identify what in these two parts, are independent 
from one another and a second job what are the relative interdependencies. 

It is obvious that the reality observed will depend on the subjective part. 

But the subjective part will be influenced too by the objective one. 

This problem is not a theoretical one. 

Having a better understanding of this relation will help me too:

first better choose the purposes and constraints of the model. 

One example comes from my general preoccupation: increasing the results 
generated by my agencies. 

About that general problem, I can have very different levels of pretension. 

I can just describe all the reality and ask the model to give me the 
adequate and precise pricing for all my products with the adequate 
variation depending on the short term demand, the corresponding good 
level of investments and the delay of renewing the fleet, the number of 
employees, how much I will pay them and even how I will interest them 
to the results, the level of commercial effort, etc... 

This is of course exaggerated and I have learned since a long time that 
this objective is unrealistic. 

But from that point, there is a large possibility of simplification of the 
purpose up to a very simplified problem like: what is happening if I 
increase the price of the kilometre versus increasing the price of the day, 
everything saying equal. 

Up to what point is it in interesting to explore a problem with successive 
more and more elaborate questions, starting with a very simple question at 
first? 

Second: how to aggregate the mixed subjectivity generated by group modelling? 

I do not believe very much in group modelling, because whatever people will 
pretend, the point of views and personal interests may vary and may be 
eventually opposite. 

It is maybe one of the reasons of not acceptation of the owner of solutions 
proposed by a model if he finds out too lately that his own objectives are 
not enough represented in the definition of the problem. 

The understanding of this relation between subjectivity and objectivity have, 
I am sure, plenty of other concrete applications. 

Does anybody know of books, articles, papers that have explored that problem? 

Regards. 

Jean-Jacques Laublé Eurli, Allocar

Strasbourg France.
Posted by  Jean-Jacques Laublé <jean-jacques.lauble at wanadoo.fr>
posting date  Fri, 16 Nov 2007 15:10:38 +0100